Two Warlord Prizes for Origins 2024 Saga Tournaments

    One of the two warlords I painted up as prizes for the Saga tournaments at Origins Game Fair 2024

When some of the Saga Ohio guys decided to run events at Origins, I promised to paint up some warlord stands to give away as prizes. That's becoming a signature prize in my tournaments, and from what I hear from players, the warlord stands are appreciated. Since one of the tournaments is Dark Ages and the other is Medieval, I figured it made sense to paint up one of the appropriate theme for each.

    A side view of the Gripping Beast mounted "Brian Boru" that I used for the general figure

I dug through my unpainted lead, looking for suitable miniatures. Awhile back, I'd purchased a mounted Brian Boru (famous Irish who fought back against the Vikings), and knew it'd be perfect. Typically, I have a mounted general on my warlord stands, but a foot standard bearer. That way, whoever wins the prize can deploy it as either mounted or foot -- at least that's how I look at it! The third figure on the circular base is sometimes a musician, bu this time I decided to go with a dog (or dogs, plural). For the standard bearer, I found a foot figure holding his arm out that would be work well to attach a banner against. The figure also had a tunic and cloak, like the Brian Boru figure.

    A close up of the 28mm wolf figure that I used for the general's pet

For the dog, I decided to use a 28mm wolf and paint it up as a wolf/dog hybrid. I used Google Image searches till I found one whose color I liked. It somewhat matched the general's horse color and the standard bearer's tunic, so I went with it. I used a green and blue color scheme for the mounted general, going with lighter sleeves and paints and a darker cloak. The tunic is a medium blue, and I repeated those colors in the decorations on the hems and headband. I really like how his light reddish hair and beard came out, too.

    The Medieval general used a Teutonic Knight figure, a mailed foot soldier, and two 28mm dog figs

For the crusader figures, I believe I chose a Teutonic Knight general figure as the mounted warlord. It is a big, beefy figure with a mailed horse, large cloak, and big triangular shield. There are lots of pieces of equipment fastened to the figure, so this one was more time consuming than you might think. Of course, the decorations along the hem, chest, and horse added to the work, too! I was happy with how the tiny white dots turned out inside the red cross blazoned across the general's chest. I think his auburn hair and beard look nice, as well.

    The banners for my warlord stands are all designed in Photoshop using clipart and then printed out

The standard bearer is a typical mailed infantryman that I felt I could pose his hand to be holding a banner. I gave him some extra decoration along the hem and a fancy white cross on a red shield to go with the general's white wolf design. He was probably the easiest figure (beside the dogs) to do on the two warlord stands. Most of his body is covered in mail, which I do with a base coast of Iron Wind Metals Steel and dry brush of silver.

    This warlord is accompanied into battle by his loyal Norwegian Elkhounds

I decided to give this general a pair of dogs using some of the many 28mm dog figures that I have collected over the years. With their size and look, I felt they'd fit well as Norwegian Elkhounds. I did my usual Google Image search to get the coloring as close as possible. I really like how they turned out.

    These two warlord stands will be given away as prizes at the Origins Game Fair tournaments

Finally, the banners are all designed using clipart found on the internet and Adobe Photoshop. I like how it lets you select a color and change it to whatever. you choose. Speaking of color, I probably should have made the Dark Age warlord's green banner a little lighter. Well, it LOOKED lighter in Photoshop, but once printed out on an Office Max laser printer, it seemed darker. I'll try to remember that in the future to go lighter if there is a question. All in all, I'm happy with both warlord stands and hope the players who win them will be, too. If you're a Saga player in the area, you really should come to Origins Game Fair, June 19-23, 2024. Dan Neal, Lee Parker, Joe Dihrkop, and Rusty Parker have collected a LOT of prizes and set up some really fun events. There is a "Learn to Play"/open play on Thursday, a Medieval tourney on Friday, and a Dark Age one on Saturday.